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5. Greed The healthcare industry in the US operates on the principle maximizing profits. They excel at it at the expense of patients who have limited choices t

5. Greed The healthcare industry in the US operates on the principle maximizing profits. They excel at it at the expense of patients who have limited choices to comparison shop and/or choose their healthcare providers. Case in point. My daughter ripped up her lip pretty bad several years ago. It required immediate stitching to repair. At the recommendation of our family doctor we went to an ER known for doing good work. The stitching took 20 minutes. The bill came up at $11,000 USD. Or $30K / hr. That's nothing but greed. There is no reasonable explanation for that bill.

bastijn 9y ago
Note it might not be the greed of the hospital staff. Instead pharmaceutical companies might be charging ridiculous amounts for medication and operation supplies. In addition, a hospital is like a company. It must try to break even. Hospital management is presured to reduce costs as we have an aging population. Predictions are medical costs for the entire population will explode. Furthermore, the cost pyramid for Healthcare is an inverse one. The 5% chronically ill take 95% of the total costs. They cannot afford to entirely pay for their care thus hospital management is forced to get these costs reimbursed elsewhere. Which might be you. Aging population and the inverse Healthcare pyramid places hospital management in a difficult position where they would have to reduce costs to such an extent they cannot provide proper care. Their only solution is to get more money in so the debit/credit sides are in balance again.
refurb 9y ago
Calling it "greed" ignore the complexities of the US healthcare system. Let me ask, was the claim for $11K or was the amount paid $11K?
- gorbachev 9y ago
  Claim was $11K, insurance paid $11K, but only after trying to not pay for two years and the doctor asking "nicely" for me to pay the whole thing.
kansface 9y ago
Your explanation lacks imagination.
jogjayr 9y ago
I can assure you the healthcare industry in India is by-and-large for-profit. It doesn't mean everything has to be more expensive.

bastijn 9y ago

Note it might not be the greed of the hospital staff. Instead pharmaceutical companies might be charging ridiculous amounts for medication and operation supplies. In addition, a hospital is like a company. It must try to break even. Hospital management is presured to reduce costs as we have an aging population. Predictions are medical costs for the entire population will explode. Furthermore, the cost pyramid for Healthcare is an inverse one. The 5% chronically ill take 95% of the total costs. They cannot afford to entirely pay for their care thus hospital management is forced to get these costs reimbursed elsewhere. Which might be you. Aging population and the inverse Healthcare pyramid places hospital management in a difficult position where they would have to reduce costs to such an extent they cannot provide proper care. Their only solution is to get more money in so the debit/credit sides are in balance again.

refurb 9y ago

Calling it "greed" ignore the complexities of the US healthcare system. Let me ask, was the claim for $11K or was the amount paid $11K?

gorbachev 9y ago
Claim was $11K, insurance paid $11K, but only after trying to not pay for two years and the doctor asking "nicely" for me to pay the whole thing.

kansface 9y ago

Your explanation lacks imagination.

jogjayr 9y ago

I can assure you the healthcare industry in India is by-and-large for-profit. It doesn't mean everything has to be more expensive.